_Handling the Wounded_
[Illustration: STRETCHERS SLUNG BETWEEN TWO WHEELS ON THEIR WAY FROM
THE TRENCHES]
The wounded are brought by the army _brancardiers_ direct from the
trenches to one or other of the _postes de secours_ established in
the villages behind the trenches and are carried on stretchers slung
between two wheels. Two men convey them. They usually come two or
three kilometres over rough tracks or open fields from the lines where
they fell. The work of the _brancardiers_ is exhausting and dangerous,
and enough cannot be said in their praise. This war being one of
barbarous weapons, the condition of the wounded is often terrible.
Shells, shrapnel, hand-grenades, and mines account for most of the
injuries, and these are seldom clean wounds and often very serious.
The wounded arrive, after rough dressing on the field, sometimes so
covered with blood and dirt as to be unrecognizable. Often they are
unconscious, and not unfrequently they die before adequate help can be
got. One hears few utterances of pain, and no complaints. Stretchers
are carried into the _poste de secours_, where a doctor examines the
wound and re-dresses it if necessary; the _blessé_ is then brought
out and given to us. Our cars can carry three stretcher cases or five
or six sitting; only the most seriously injured can be allowed the
luxury of lying down. Our business then is to convey them gently,
and as fast as is consistent with gentleness, to hospitals. Here the
wounded receive further treatment; or, if their case is hopeless, are
allowed peacefully to die. The following day, or perhaps several days
afterwards, if the wounded man is not fit to travel, he comes into our
hands again, to be carried to the _trains sanitaires_ for evacuation to
one of the many hospitals throughout France.